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The Ministry of the Deacon
The Deacon exercises the ministry
of the Church in a three-fold way:
The ministry of the Word
The deacon proclaims the Good News both in word and deed,
in preaching homilies, as well as teaching, counseling, proclaiming
in the marketplace, and witnessing in marriage and family.
(ND 79) He is an evangelizer and teacher. The deacon proclaims
the Gospel and by virtue of his ordination, he may preach.
The deacon is a catechist helping to provide religious formation
of candidates and families preparing for sacraments. He is
expected to live the word in his professional life and be
an example of morality and ethics. (ND 31) In his ministry
of the Word, the deacon responds to the commission given him
at ordination: “Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose
herald you now are. Believe what you read, teach what you
believe, and practice what you teach.” The deacon is
a life long student of God’s word which must be deeply
rooted in his own life.
The ministry of Liturgy
The Eucharistic Liturgy is the source and summit of the Church’s
activity. It is here that “the deacon is a visible,
grace-filled sign of the integral connection between sharing
at the Lord’s Eucharistic table and serving the many
hungers felt so keenly by all God’s children. In the
deacon’s liturgical ministry, as in a mirror, the Church
sees a reflection of her own diaconal character and is reminded
of her mission to serve as Jesus did.” (ND 33) The deacon’s
ministry within the Mass reflects his mission and ministry
in the world. (ND 35) The deacon assists at the altar of worship
as public witness of service to the People of God. When he
ministers in the Eucharistic Assembly, he brings with him
the needs of the community to be raised up in prayer. “In
the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the deacon does not celebrate the
mystery; rather, he effectively represents on the one hand,
the people of God and, specifically, helps to unite their
lives to the offering of Christ; while on the other, in the
name of Christ himself, he helps the Church to participate
in the fruits of that sacrifice.”(ND83) It is the deacon
who sends the assembly forth from the Liturgy to reach out
in love and service to those in need of the Lord’s help.
The deacon is the ordinary presider of Liturgical Prayer in
the absence of a Priest; he is an ordinary minister of the
Rites of Christian Funerals, Matrimony and Baptisms.
The ministry of Charity and Justice
The deacon’s ministry of charity and justice cannot
be separated from his ministry of word and liturgy. His ministry
of the word flows to his ministry at the altar which then
seeks to animate the congregation to live their baptismal
call to charity and justice by his example and leadership.
“The deacon’s service begins at the altar and
returns there.” (ND 37) The deacon sacramentalizes service
and is to proclaim the word in the way he lives his life.
He then challenges others to live out their baptismal vocation
of service and justice to their brothers and sisters. (ND
32) The deacon leads the Church in what we traditionally called
the “Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. “As
an ordained participant in the Church’s ministry of
charity and justice, the deacon assumes the duties entrusted
to him by his bishop with humility and enthusiasm. At the
core of his spirituality, a deacon puts on Christ and is guided
by the love of Christ in caring for all in his charge: ‘Charity
is the very soul of ecclesial communion’.” (ND
84) He is a man of advocacy and action. During the rite of
diaconal ordination, the bishop prays that the deacon will
be “full of all the virtues, sincere in charity, solicitous
towards the weak and the poor, humble in their service . .
. [and] may . . . be the image of your Son who did not come
to be served but to serve.” Therefore, “by word
and example,” the deacon places himself “at the
constant service of [his] brothers and sisters.” This
service will include diocesan and parochial works of charity,
including the Church’s concern for social justice. It
will also extend into Christian formation—working with
youth and adults in promoting justice and life in all its
phases—transforming the world through personal witness
in conformity with the Gospel of life and justice. The deacon
must strive, therefore, to serve all of humanity “without
discrimination, while devoting particular care to the suffering
and the sinful.” Ultimately, the deacon’s principal
diakonia—a sign of the Church’s mission—“should
bring [all whom he serves] to an experience of God’s
love and move [them] to conversion by opening [their] heart[s]
to the work of grace.” (ND 85)
The deacon is a servant leader. At the Last Supper, after
Jesus had washed the feet of his disciples, he then commissioned
them: “I have given you a model to follow, so that as
I have done for you, you should also do.” (Jn. 13:15)
This is one of the commissions Jesus gave to his Apostles
that is continued on through apostolic succession in his bishops
today. The deacon assists the bishop in attending to this
responsibility. It can be said that the deacon helps the bishop
in his mission of calling people to holiness by caring for
their wholeness.
If you would like more information about or
are interested in the diaconate, please contact the Director
of Formation at one of the numbers listed below.
You can also find more information on the
diaconate on the Internet at http://www.usccb.org/deacon/index.shtml
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